On a very hot and humid day, with Jim Craig back at the Manager’s helm, after returning from his well deserved holiday, the Reds came out to play. Jim knew how much his pre-game speech meant to the Reds. They went down to bitter defeat last week without it. He also knew that his motivational speech would immediately set the tone for the game. Jimmy’s words on August 7th, 2018, could be compared to Winston Churchill’s, ‘We shall fight on the beaches” or Phil Esposito’s Summit series “We came because we love Canada." Jim must have sat up all night pondering his tear evoking oration…."Guys if we lose, we’re in shit!” With those profound words rattling in their ears the Reds knew it was crunch time.

Jimmy shook up the batting line-up to enforce his message and crunch is what they did. The offence was popping with an overall 33 hit performance. Of course Jim himself, cammanded the charge batting 2 for 3. Al Stokes and Ray Griswold were on fire going 4 for 4. Don Evans and Ted Talbot both batted 3 for 4. Don Kerr went 3 for 3 while Don Evans went 3 for 4. Not to be outdone Larry Adler and Awadh Jagemath both produced 3 for 3 days. Bob Irvine and Vic Leonard chipped in with timely RBI’s in the 8th.

The hit of the game however went to John Trigiani. With the Blues outfield pulled in to try to hold off a run, John hammered one to right field leaving the fielder helpless watching the ball sail over his head.

Despite the Reds solid hitting, the Blues were not going to be pushed over without a battle. Their stalwart defence and timely double plays kept the game well within their reach. The Reds countered with their own solid defence. Glen Marshall pitched 9 strong Innings, while his outfield led by Ted and Neil Donaldson made some highlight reel catches, to keep the Blues in check. Laurence Drew claimed Bob Falconi’s snow-cone snag of a long fly ball was a fluke. (Could be correct).

Laurence's play on the field was flawless as he batted .500 with 2RBI’s and played errorless 3rd base. However his ineptitude at the restaurant was inexplicable as he bobbled and dropped his bowl of soup and dumped a jug of beer over the table. When eating, the guy has hands of cement!

The ninth inning was a barn burner with the Reds up 16-8 going into the bottom of the inning. The Blues were relentless and would not give in. With precision hitting and strong base running the Blues scored 6 runs. They had a man on base and the tying run at the plate. As the Reds were struggling in the heat, and the Blues putting pressure on, Jim’s inspirational words once again echoed in their heads and his divine inspiration encouraged them with the extra push they needed. So, with the game on the line, short stop Don Kerr made a defensive gem to end the game and the Blues comeback.

Reds 16 – Blues 14 The Reds again have their dignity intact and a tight hold on first place.

A sell-out crowd filed into Glenashton East in anticipation of another classic struggle between Marshall and Larocque, two legendary pitchers in the OSSPL. The last time these two met, “No Walk” Larocque bettered Marshall in a close match. However, this day Marshall would come out on top.

Larocque held the Reds scoreless for three of the nine innings thanks to 8 double plays by the Blues defense led by Short Stop Dick Wood. Unfortunately, as in the previous week, the Blues would score in only 3 innings.

Going into the bottom of the 9th, the score was 16 to 8 for the Reds. Despite the Blues sputtering offense, the game was far from over. As the home team Blues came up for their last at bat, inexplicably, their offense sprang to life and they scored 6 consecutive runs helped in large measure by doubles from Dick Wood and Tom Locke. With no one out and the tying run on second, the Blues seemed poised to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But not today. Marshall would reach into his bag of tricks and the Blues next three batters became outs. The game was over and the Blues would again taste the bitter ashes of defeat.

Offensively, Dick Wood would have a perfect day at the plate (4 for 4); Larry Stacey, Trevor Houston, Grant Chapman and Tom Locke would be 3 for 4.

Mathematically, the Blues can no longer finish in first place although the betting line gave them no chance of that long ago. It seems their fate this season will be as “spoilers”.

Glen Ashton West

Gold’s Rookie Manager Rick Wilcox asserted that the baggy pants and sore knees from recent weeks of vigorous praying was worth it, as he took full credit for a second straight win – a 19 – 7 “merci” - over the second place Whites.

Not only did each Gold player contribute at least one hit, they scored in every inning for the first time this season delivering timely hitting with men on base. Their surprisingly tight defence (“where has that been all year?”) led by newly positioned shortstop Bill Maver, held the Whites to 2 run innings on three occasions as fly balls were caught, ground balls were fielded, and throws were (more or less) on the mark.

Not only did Rick Bradley pitch a terrific game in the absence of Hal Ridley, who many suspected of being away getting another joint replaced, he celebrated his complete game win by indulging in a second beer. Most importantly, the Golds were the earliest to arrive at the pub for the first time all season, resulting in table selection and shocked player statements like “hey –did you know that they have hot chicken wings” and “they are not using three day old bread this week”.

Leading the offence was trade deadline acquisition and leadoff batter Ev Lucenti, going an outstanding 5 for 5 with 5 runs scored and a couple driven in. Maxie Crocker and Bill Maver each had 4 hits with Therrien, Told and Hipolito adding three hits apiece. The defining hit of the game came from Rick Bradley – “who says pitchers can’t hit” - who delivered a bases clearing double in the 7th.

Manager Wilcox will be at church again Sunday, looking for help from upstairs, as a win against Blues next week will get them out of sole possession of the basement for the first time.

The Whites were missing their "disabled pitcher" and it became evident quickly.

According to a source close to the action, "The score tells the story" !

It would appear the WHITES were out classed from start to finish by the surging GOLDS.

Too many errors and not enough players reaching 1st base led to the debacle on the Glenashton West diamond. (Let's hope the Blue Jays don't suffer the same results from the Red Socks to-night.)

The "hi-lights" included 3 hits each coming from Jim Barton, Ron Berry, and Bob Ellison.

Perhaps the long week-end with late nights and hot weather may have added to the demise of the tired WHITES.

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Rumour has it that Carey is in re-hab and expected back next week. That is bound to cause the REDS to tremble.